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A Place to Share and be Heard

If you write—stories, memoirs, poems, haiku, what-have-you—and would like an audience to hear you read your writing out loud, there’s a group for that: the PNA Village Writing Group.

Carol Beach started the group in early 2015. She recalls, “After joining the PNA Village I felt a need to reach deeper into myself and pull out some life stories making them into poems, memoirs, and short stories. So I started the Village Writing Group and found that others felt the same way—a place to share and be heard.

“I think that we all need a space that allows us to explore what we think and feel…”

Typically, members go around the table taking turns reading something they’ve written. There’s no requirement that the work be new…some have read work that is decades old! You can ask for feedback if you would like it, but it’s not a critique group: it’s writers supporting other writers.

Wilma Bishop has shared some memoirs with the group, like the story of her first ride in a hot air balloon. She had previously been part of a memoir writing group that dissolved, and is hoping the PNA Village Writing Group will be just as rewarding.

Terry Cook has been sharing a serial story about a teenager in the 1950s working as a cowgirl. She joined the group to motivate herself to write. She finds it to be a “supportive environment to try out different stories.”

“I think that we all need a space that allows us to explore what we think and feel,” says Cook. “Writing is one way to do that, but being able to share that with others in an open forum validates our musings.”

About PNA Village CONNECTIONS blog

This is the blog of PNA Village, a program of the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) in Seattle's Phinney Ridge/Greenwood neighborhood.
The PNA Village Program empowers people to remain in their homes and neighborhoods while staying active and engaged as they age.

One thought on “A Place to Share and be Heard”

I can certainly attest to the wonderfulness of this group — I am a former member of it. I have moved now, to Port Townsend, and I am too far away to partake of the warmth and support of the various resident writers: Marguerite, Alyssa, Terry, Carol, Wilma, and others. (Alyssa, that preceding serial comma is for you!) What a joyous, inspiring group this is! I have to say, I miss them all, very much.